The rapid evolution in hardware and software technology is making it more the norm rather than the exception that users will have multiple computing devices with which to interact with data and programs. For example, in a single-user situation, it is commonplace for the user to have a desktop computer and one or more additional computing devices such as a portable/laptop computer or a mobile device (e.g., cell phone) with which to access network services. Moreover, multiple users interacting can utilize different devices during this interaction process. For example, one user may connect using a desktop computer, a second user may connect using a portable computer, and a third user may connect using a cell phone. With so many devices, users can fail to maintain protection on each device against malicious software (“malware”) that is becoming so prevalent.
During the course of file sharing among multiple participants, a situation can occur where a participant adds a file containing a virus to a common file sharing area (e.g., a directory). Thus, if each user is not sufficiently protected against the particular virus, one or more of the participating clients will become infected; the file sharing area may be automatically replicated to all interacting participants, so users may receive a local copy of the virus even if they do not explicitly download or access the infected file. This becomes problematic, because there is no convenient way of checking or actually knowing whether each participant possesses sufficient virus or malware protection—or any protection at all—short of asking each user before granting access to the shared environment. Again, the same problem can exist where the single user has several types of devices not all of which include protection against malicious software.
Virus protection software, for example, typically addresses an infected file at the driver level in the protocol stack of the standard OSI (open system interconnection) model, for example. This software, if properly installed, prevents infected files from being received from a remote location. Accordingly, more effective mechanisms should be provided in sharing environments for protecting infected information from being propagated throughout computing systems.